Hornsby is where the Pacific Highway meets the start of the M1, with a dense town centre around the station and bushland streets falling away on either side. We inspect the car at the seller's address, and the written report reaches you before you pay for anything.
Hornsby gives us something most suburbs do not: motorway access and long, steep gradients within minutes of each other. It also has a town centre where parking is entirely structured.
The roads dropping away from the Hornsby ridge are sustained descents, not short dips. Continuous braking on a long descent exposes shudder, pull, pedal fade and a marginal handbrake in a way that stop-start suburban driving cannot. Where the car is registered and insured and the seller consents, we use one deliberately.
Motorway access from Hornsby is immediate. Sustained high-speed running is what makes wheel balance, driveline vibration, steering tracking and torque-converter lock-up detectable, and it is particularly worth doing on a car that has itself lived on the M1 running to the Central Coast.
Around the Westfield and the station, parking is in structures with height limits and time restrictions rather than open kerb. That is not a place to spend an hour on an inspection. We work at the seller's home address wherever possible, and where a car genuinely lives in the centre we plan the position and timing before the visit.
Hornsby Shire has heavy tree canopy and cars parked under it collect leaf litter in the places that later cause water ingress: windscreen cowl, sunroof drain paths, door drain slots and boot seals. We clear and test those drains and check the carpet edges rather than assessing a cabin by appearance.
You don't need to be there and you don't need to move the car. Timing depends on inspector availability in your area and on when the seller can make the vehicle available — we confirm a time with you once we've spoken to them.
Send the listing and the address of the car. Tell us if there is anything specific you want checked.
We contact the seller or the dealership directly and lock in a time that suits both sides, based on inspector availability in your area. You don't need to be there.
A qualified mobile inspector attends the vehicle where it is and works through the full checklist, including a road test.
Comprehensive and Elite reports are issued on site. Essential reports are delivered the same day. Every report ends with a plain-English recommendation and a phone call if you want to talk it through.
Every price below includes travel within our Sydney service area, so there is no surcharge for Hornsby. All prices include GST.
Visual and mechanical safety check, OBD-II scan, measured brake and tyre life, battery and charging test, and a road test.
Written photo report the same day
with code SAVE10
Everything in Essential plus a full mechanical assessment, an undertray-off leak-source check where safe and permitted, every suspension bush inspected, PPSR history and repair-cost estimates.
Report issued on site, before the inspector leaves
Everything in Comprehensive plus a senior inspector, paint-thickness readings on every panel, cold-start assessment, advanced history deep-dive and on-site price negotiation.
Report issued on site, before the inspector leaves
Adds a measured state-of-health assessment of the high-voltage battery on any EV or hybrid, issued as a separate certificate.
Certificate issued with your report
If we miss a major fault that was present at the time of inspection on an Elite Buyers' Protection inspection, we contribute up to $3,000 toward the repair within 30 days. Essential and Comprehensive do not include this cover.
A pre-purchase inspection in Hornsby removes most of the risk in a used-car purchase. It does not remove all of it, and you should know where the edges are before you book.
Deliberately, where the car is registered and insured and the seller consents. A long descent puts continuous load through the brakes and a long climb loads the engine, cooling system and transmission. Both reveal problems that a flat suburban lap will not, which is why we build a gradient leg into the test here.
High-speed distance loads wheel bearings, alignment and tyres, the cooling system and transmission fluid temperature history, rather than the clutch and brakes that traffic wears. We scan the driveline modules, check fluid condition, read tyre wear patterns and date codes, and verify timing chain or belt service status against the kilometres.
It is workable but not ideal — height limits, time restrictions and poor lighting all constrain the job. We would rather attend the seller's home address. Where the centre really is where the car lives, we plan a position in advance and note anything the setting prevented us from checking.
$199 Essential, $329 Comprehensive or $449 Elite, plus $199 for the EV and hybrid battery health assessment on any tier. All prices include GST and travel within our Sydney service area; Hornsby carries no surcharge.
Comprehensive and Elite reports are issued on site before the inspector leaves. Essential reports are delivered the same day. Every report is photographed and finishes with a plain verdict you can use in a negotiation.
Hornsby sits inside our North Shore coverage. If the car you're chasing is a few suburbs over, it's the same service and the same price.
Tell us where the car is and we'll arrange the inspection with the seller. Written repair cover on Elite (30 days / up to $3,000).
Inspection in HornsbyBook a same-day inspection in Hornsby
At the seller's address · from $199
